The South Kamloops Titans senior boys soccer team played its way into an Okanagan semifinal after beating the Kelowna-Rutland Voodoos 3-2 in penalty kicks at Hillside Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.

The Titans are scheduled to head to Salmon Arm to play the Golds in a semifinal on Thursday.

South Kam’s Dawson Freeze opened the scoring in the first 10 minutes, but Rutland tied it before the half ended. The Voodoos took a lead near the beginning of the second half, and looked to put the game out of reach, but Titans goalkeeper Kiel Witt stopped a pair of point-blank chances to keep his side within striking distance.

Jordan Sullivan finally scored the equalizer for South Kam with 15 minutes to go.

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The TRU WolfPack women’s soccer team, which is preparing for a Pacific West Athletic Association quarterfinal game, has moved up a spot in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association rankings.

TRU played to a pair of 1-1 road draws on the weekend, and moved up a spot to 11th in the country. The WolfPack is scheduled to play the Quest Kermodes, who are ranked No. 15 in Canada, in a PacWest quarterfinal in Kelowna on Friday.

There were 15 members of the Kamloops Classics Swim Club at the Salmon Arm Jamboree Meet on Sunday, Oct. 23.

Sarah Koopmans and Ryley McRae finished the 200-metre individual medley in under four minutes. Both swimmers have qualified to compete at regional all-level meets.

Koopmans won three gold medals in Salmon Arm, placing first in the 400-metre freestyle, 200-metre backstroke and 100-metre fly. She won bronze in the 200-metre breaststroke and individual medley races.

McRae swam to four first-place finishes, winning gold in the 200-metre individual medley and backstroke, the 100-metre fly and 400-metre freestyle. He also won silver in the 200-metre breaststroke.

Macy MacDonald won a bronze medal in the 50-metre breaststroke in the nine-and-under division.

Gursevak Uppal had one second-place finish, in the 50-metre breaststroke, and two third-place finishes, in the 50-metre freestyle and 50-metre backstroke races. He was competing in the eight-and-under boys’ division.

Two of Jeff Viani’s finest students are ready to turn heads at the Master’s Cup, a World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Taekwondo event scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 29, at Capilano University in North Vancouver.

Taylor Viani, Jeff’s daughter, and Shawn Sabyan — both of whom fight out of Master Viani’s Tiger Martial Arts (MVTMA) school — are second-degree black belts with a lot to prove at this weekend’s event.

Taylor, 15, is competing for the first time in the junior women’s black-belt division.

A top-four finish in the sparring competition, a full-contact event, will earn her a spot on Team B.C., which will compete at the National Championships in Vancouver in January.

“Oh, I can’t even imagine what that would be like,” said Taylor, a Sa-Hali secondary student.

“But, I’m just focused on getting in the top four right now.”

Sabyan, who’s been practising martial arts for 15 years, has competed at high-level competitions before, many of them overseas, but has never tried his hand in the men’s black-belt division at a WTF-sanctioned event.

“The competition is going to be quite difficult,” said Sabyan, who works for CIBC in the day and MVTMA at night.

“There’s a lot of people with a lot of experience. The sparring is full contact in the adult division, so there’s a chance for injury for myself or for someone else.

“But, Master Viani wouldn’t send me down there if he didn’t think that I was capable of making quite an impact.

“I trust him and I trust my own skills as well.”

The 22-year-old knows he will be under scrutiny from coaches and scouts from Team B.C. and Team Canada at the Master’s Cup.

A solid showing on Saturday might put him on the map for a spot on Team Canada in the future.

While making the team that travels to London for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games is a long shot, Sabyan’s chances of cracking the squad in 2016, when the Games are held in Brazil, are better.

“This can get me noticed and get the ball rolling within B.C and with the provincial team and I’ll go from there,” Sabyan said.

Taylor dreams of competing at the Olympics, too, and this weekend’s event will allow her to gauge her standing among the province’s elite.

Viani has been making life tough on both of his pupils as of late, preparing them for what promises to be a true test of their skills.

“We’ve a had a love-hate relationship for the last six weeks because I’m pushing her probably beyond her potential,” he said of his daugher.

“I don’t want her to get hurt and I don’t want her to get knocked out.

“She really loves dance and if she comes back black and blue, that won’t be too popular.”

Regardless of the outcome this weekend, Viani is proud of his daughter and Sabyan, both of whom will represent the River City on Saturday the only way they know how — by giving 100 per cent.

“We probably haven’t had a lot of black belts of this calibre represent Kamloops,” he said.

Royal Caribbean International is pulling the Independence of the Seas out of Europe in November 2012 and will deploy the 3,634-passenger ship in the Caribbean, operating out of Fort Lauderdale for the 2012-13 winter season.

With the repositioning, all three Freedom-class ships (the Independence of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas) will be based in Florida. The Liberty is in Fort Lauderdale, the Freedom in Port Canaveral.

The Independence this winter is sailing 11-night Spain and Canary Islands cruises roundtrip from Southampton, England.

“We are looking forward to having all three Freedom-class ships sailing the Caribbean in winter 2012-13,” said Betsy O’Rourke, the line’s senior vice president of marketing. “Independence of the Seas has helped solidify Royal Caribbean’s position as the most innovative cruise line in Europe, where she will continue to sail in the summer, and is now offering new Caribbean adventures for the ship’s devotees.”

The ship will sail a transatlantic voyage from Southampton on Nov. 22, 2012, and sail from Fort Lauderdale from December 2012 through March 2013.

The ship will sail a three-night Bahamas cruise before starting a series of alternating eight-night Eastern Caribbean and six-night Western Caribbean itineraries.

Independence of the Seas will return to England in April 2013 and offer Mediterranean and Europe cruises through summer.

The Freedom of the Seas this year is operating alternating seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises, while the Liberty of the Seas sails four- and five-night Western Caribbean itineraries.

Looking for a fun way to support a cause? The Kamloops Trap and Skeet Club is hosting a charity shoot to benefit Canadian Cancer Foundation to support the fights against breast and prostate cancer. The entire entry fee will be donated and will include lunch and pink clay targets to shoot up.

Guiding his team to the playoffs, despite having four regulars suffer serious injuries, has resulted in McManus, head coach of the TRU WolfPack women’s soccer team, being named the Pacific Western Athletic Association’s women’s soccer coach of the year.

“It has been a tough season with all of the injuries, but all of the players and coaching staff bought into what I have been trying to do and without them supporting my decisions it could have been disastrous,” said McManus, who led the Pack to a 5-5-1 record and a berth in the playoffs.

“I have been very lucky to have excellent coaching staff and excellent support staff from the WolfPack office and my thanks goes out to all of them.”

TRU finished second in Group B of the PacWest women’s soccer standings.

The Pack meet the Quest Kermodes in a quarter-final matchup at 1 p.m. on Friday in Kelowna.

If TRU beats Quest, which finished third in Group A, they will play the Langara Falcons in a semifinal tilt on Saturday.

Three of McManus’ players have been chosen to the PacWest first all-star team.

Alanna Bekkering, a third-year midfielder from Kamloops, Blair MacKay, a fourth-year defender from Kamloops, and Ashley Piggot, a fifth-year midfielder from Prince George, were all chosen in a vote by PacWest coaches.

“I am very happy that Alanna, Blair and Ashley have been recognized,” McManus said.

“They have had a brilliant season once again.”

Three TRU men earn all-star status

A trio of TRU WolfPack men’s soccer players have been selected to PacWest all-star teams.

Braeden Burrows, a third-year midfielder from Kamloops, is a first-team all-star, while Adam Dodgson and Conor Doherty, both fifth-year players from Kamloops, are second-team all-stars.

“Braeden has always been one of the better players,” WolfPack co-head coach Sean Wallace said.

“Conor was consistent as he has been his entire career here. Adam would have been a first-team all-star again this year if he weren’t injured for most of the season.”

TRU’s men finished 4-2-5 and missed the playoffs.

WolfPack volleyball season is here

The TRU WolfPack men’s and women’s volleyball teams open their Canada West regular-season schedules at home this weekend against the Calgary Dinos.

Rules and Procedures for the Field of Play

Access to the Field of Play

During scheduled competition, the Stadium Field of Play is restricted to:
• Athletes competing in the specific event (who have been processed through the call room)
• Officials and volunteers required for the specific event
• WMA Council and LOC members
• Accredited and scheduled media
Referees will remove any other people from the field of play, including officials and volunteers who are not required for the event. Coaches are not permitted in the field of play, and no “coaching areas” are provided.